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Where can my dear cousin go?

GPA: 3.85
H.S GPA: 2.6ish
SAT: 2100
E.Cs: Nothing substantial, just a few community service projects and sits on an advisory committee for local school district

URM status

He's a CC student transferring for Junior year. I think he has excellent writing skills and can share his very interesting story. No doubt he'll be accepted at the local flagship, but do you guys think there's a good chance of being admitted into a prestigious school, or will his CC stigmatize him.

Replies to: Where can my dear cousin go?

I love the use of the phrase "dear cousin" it reminds me of a Jane Austin novel or something.

I think most private schools ranked 20-40 will be a high reach. But it's worth it to apply to schools ranked below 40 if you have any particulars in mind. The good thing is his SATs are good (it matters a little bit whether that score is from HS or College though) and he's transferring as a JR, not a soph.

Transfer admissions are more competitive, and I'm unsure whether FinAid is an issue for your cousin, but traditionally need-aware with less merit scholarships as well.

With that said, however, I hate to discourage people from applying as no one knows what his application will look like other than his admissions counselors. And obviously this is all a generalization when not speaking about a particular school, so he should reach out to his transfer coordinator if he has one, and you should encourage him to apply to reaches--just not too many.

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